Cikgu Ahmad Kassah’s House no. 22E at Kampung Surau was built with Chengal (Neobalanocarpus heimii) posts taken from a relative’s house in Kampung Darat Nenas in Changi that had to be demolished in 1982. Such reusing of structural hardwood was an old tradition where one could inherit a house by dismantling it and reusing the parts for one’s own house. So the house components here become an inheritance.

 

These houses are manifestations of traditional wooden construction practices that allow for the dismantling and re-erection of their structures, that enable their adaptation and extension. The essence of these houses lies in their continued existence through constant change.